


The Plan

by smilingsarah10



Series: Right Hand Frat [12]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Hazing, M/M, Multi, Violence is not mentioned but is implied I think, college shenanigans, so be cautious with this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 17:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7324351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilingsarah10/pseuds/smilingsarah10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Pledges all get assigned tasks. Alex needs a little help from his friends to get his done safely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!  
> First of all, I am so sorry it took me like 17 years to write this. I'm still not satisfied but I hope y'all will like it. So thank you to every one sticking around and following this series.  
> Normally I make a note here that is like 'Oh if you haven't read from the beginning it's fine cause these are like one shots ha ha,' but I can't lie to you in good conscious. So this installment is PLOT HEAVY. If you haven't been following along, you will miss some of the magic. I can't (and won't) force you to do anything, but it's strongly author advised to read straight through from the beginning.  
> Finally, as per usual, if I missed any pronouns, holla at me.   
> Much love and back to Liberty College....

Thomas was almost back to sleep when he heard the door open to his room. This had become their version of normal: James leaving at odd hours of the night and then coming home exhausted and both of them pretending it wasn’t happening. Thomas hated it. He hated the secrecy, hated the silence that was once a comfort being tinged with awkwardness. But James refused to open up, and Thomas could only push so much before he was forced to give up. As per usual, James kicked his shoes off and crawled into bed. Thomas twisted so that he was facing him and nuzzled into his chest. “Rough morning, Jemmy?” he asked, voice clouded with sleep and words that he would never say. 

James grunted, kissing his forehead and scooping Thomas up in an awkward hybrid of a cuddle position and an embrace. “Well, today John got the worst of it, but last I saw, Laf was taking care of him so I think he will be alright. Don’t let me forget that we need to be up at 6:00 on Saturday. That is apparently when the first of the hazing begins for y’all and I don’t want us to be late.” 

Thomas noted the separation of James from the rest of the group when he mentioned hazing. He pulled away so he could look his boyfriend in the eyes. “James, are you being hazed? Is that what this is?” James had never been a good liar. He had never (up to this year) lied about anything to Thomas. So when the word no left James’ lips, Thomas immediately recognized the blatant lie. He put his hands on each side of James’ face. “Amazing. I always have wondered what it would look like when you lied to me.”

“Thomas, please,” James said trying to pull away from Thomas and get back out of bed. Thomas hooked his legs around James and flipped so that he was straddling him and pinning him as best he could to the bed. James huffed but stopped struggling. “Thomas, we have class in like an hour and a half. You know how hangry you get when you skip breakfast.” 

“Well, _James_ , that should give you plenty of time to explain what exactly is going on. Either that or it’s going to be a real silent hour.” Thomas set his face into a scowl so that James knew he meant business. He was not getting off his lap until he talked. Normally, this was all it would take to get James to open up. But the pained look James gave him followed by the silence that seemed to permeate the air and pull out any trust between the two was enough to tell Thomas that the point was moot. 

Thomas was nothing if not persistent though. He sat there in the silence for a full 15 minutes before his resolve began to crack. “Jemmy, please just tell me. You know how I worry about you. If there’s something going on inside the house, we can go to Laf. We can go together. Just let me in.” 

James groaned and adamantly shook his head. “Thomas, no. I… I can’t tell you and I sure as hell can’t tell Lafayette. John and I will get through this. Once we are initiated, it won’t matter. Don’t you trust me?” The look in his eye was sincere. Thomas knew that James wouldn’t keep a secret from him unless is was big and above himself. He would protect other people before himself every time, and while usually that was a trait Thomas admired, it had a habit of getting James into more trouble than Thomas thought was worth. With a sigh, he rolled off of James.

He expected James to take the opportunity to put distance between the two of them. That was the normal punishment for Thomas’ petulant behavior. Instead, James wrapped himself back around Thomas in an embrace that was more for his own comfort than Thomas’. Thomas comfortingly petted his back, noticing for the first time the scabs that were seemingly peppered all over it. “James, who are you protecting? What good is not telling me? You know I would keep your secrets. I wouldn’t tell a soul. You don’t have to go through this all alone.” 

He kissed Thomas then. It was sweet and slow, meant to be reassuring. Thomas sighed into it. James finally answered, “It’s best that you don’t know. You are so passionate, I’m not sure you could hide your anger. I’m protecting you as much as I am protecting John and myself. I promise it will be fine, Thomas. Now can we rest?” 

Thomas hummed his affirmation and let his boyfriend fall into a fitful rest. _’I promise it will be fine,’_ he repeated in his head. That was another lie James had told him that day. 

\----------

Thomas and Laf had taken to meeting up for lunch. James and John both had a class that stretched into an uncomfortable lunch period, so it was out of convenience as well as comradery. 

“Any news on your end?” Thomas broached the subject that had been on the tips of both of their tongues. It was easier to talk about over salads than it was on an empty stomach, but their discussions about how the first week of classes was going had basically ceased. 

Lafayette shook their head. “Unfortunately, John is stubborn. ‘e comes to me battered and bruised, but will not tell me why. I’m doing the best I can. I’m even withholding sex and ‘e keeps ‘is lips tight. I don’t know ‘ow much longer I can take that. I am getting antsy, and no punching bag matches fighting with a real person. Even my morning runs are starting to get longer to try and counter the aggression I’ve been feeling.” They shoved their fork into the bottom of their salad as if the lettuce in the bottom had mortally wounded their favorite relative and then bit down and chewed in much the same manner. In the next bite, they asked, “Well, what about you? James told you anything?” 

James had been coming home a little more beat up than usual, and at one point Thomas had caught both James and John coming home to tend to John’s bloody nose and had thought they were close to spilling the beans, but they hadn’t said anything definitive yet. “Well, Jemmy gets the same ominous messages that John gets. They both disappear for long periods of time together and come back either exhausted or battered. James let slip that it was hazing but froze up when I mentioned coming to you or taking it public. He said he was ‘defending me and John’ like I’m some kind of maiden in need of defending. Psh. Beside the point though. He and John have also been throwing around the term ‘he’ as in ‘God he’s such a pretentious ass’ and ‘his excellency’ but more like ‘I wouldn’t piss on his excellency to save him from a fire.’ Oh, and they already know things about the house that I don’t think we are supposed to know. Like me, Alex, and those two all have alarms set for 6 AM tomorrow so we can be at the house on time for something they won’t tell us about.” 

Laf’s frown deepened the further along Thomas’ explanation stretched. “Yeah, tomorrow there is the first of the surprise pledge activities, but only upperclassmen are supposed to know about that. You’re gonna get a call at 6:30 telling you to be at the ‘ouse by 7 with your whole pledge class. It isn’t as bad as it sounds. You get paired with a brother who gives you a task and a certain amount of time to complete it. This week’s tasks ‘ave to be completed by the retreat on Tuesday so they shouldn’t be too crazy. It’s like a fraternity get to know you test. The point is still standing that they should not ‘ave ‘ad any knowledge of that. Which means that they are being picked on by someone outside of your class.” They continued to eat in silence for a moment before seeming to have an idea strike them out of the blue. “I think I’m going to go talk to Dr. Schuyler. If anyone knew something, ‘e would know ‘ow to best ‘andle the problem.” 

\----------

Dr. Schuyler’s office was one of the largest professor offices on campus. He had basically started teaching immediately after completing an early doctorate, and he had never had any desire to teach anywhere but at Liberty. So, his office was his home away from home, and that view was reflected in the comfortable couches that took up most of the floor as well as soft rugs and photos of his girls and students throughout the years. Because of this comfortable environment, students never hesitated to fill up his open-door office hours just coming to hang out. Laf considered it a blessing when he peaked in the door and it was just Dr. Schuyler and Herc. 

“Bonjour!” they made their presence known and both heads whipped around to greet them. Sour expressions faded away into fondness when they realized who was at the door. Dr. Schuyler invited Laf in and asked them to close the door behind them. It only took a second for them to comply, dropping their backpack behind the door and settling onto one of the couches that faced the desk where the other two were sitting.

“My two favorite advisees having crises on the same day? Should I be worried about the apocalypse?” Dr. Schuyler tried to alleviate the heavy mood in the air, but the joke fell flat between the two. Changing tactics, he put his fingers together into a pyramid and waited for the boys to speak. Laf was about to launch into their questions when Herc broke the silence. 

“Actually sir, I think we might be here for the same thing. See, as an RA it is my job to notice things. This doubles when you add on my position in the house of risk manager. Well, I’m noticing some risk with some of the new boys, but they won’t talk to anyone about it. They come back into the door at all hours of the night in different states of dress and looking like they’ve gotten in a fight. Normally, I would just chalk that up to freshmen being freshmen but I know these boys. They aren’t like that. So, I don’t know what to do.” 

Dr. Schuyler nodded sagely before turning to Laf. “And you, Laf? Are you here for the same reason?” 

“Oui, sir, I’m afraid someone in the ‘ouse is ‘azing my pledges. More so than usual. But they won’t talk to those closest to them. Something is keeping them from coming to me as well. I don’t know why they are targeting James and John. I don’t know who it is. But it is past dangerous,” Laf finished and looked to Herc and Dr. Schuyler for reassurance and advice. 

He paused for a moment considering. “James and John are both in my freshman seminar. I did notice a distinct difference in their behavior. It looked like more than nerves to me, but I try not to judge a book by it’s cover. Aren’t they the two legacies? What’s that legacy program called again?” 

Laf shook their head, confused. They didn’t know about any legacy program because they were not a legacy student. However, Herc was nodding along as if he knew. “The Sons of Liberty is the legacy program for the house. There’s actually quite a few of us in it. Frederick, Washington, myself, Seabury, Burr, and some others that I’m definitely forgetting. It’s just supposed to be a letter that goes to whoever was in your house and then a chance at higher pledge numbers when it’s time for the test. That shouldn’t have anything to do with this. But it is interesting that they seem to be the only two getting hazed and they are the only legacies.” 

“So in theory, it would ‘ave to be one of the previous legacies who would know about this program who was capable of doing the damage?” Laf was thinking through the list. They could interrogate Washington and Burr easily. The other two they were just going to have to keep an eye on. 

Dr. Schuyler cleared his throat, causing Laf to look up from where they were lost in thought. “Laf, I know you care about John and James and the rest of those boys. But I also you have a tendency to rush into battle with your fists before fact checking. If it is one of these boys, they will get what’s coming to them through the authorities and the national organization. However, if you do something rash _like fighting_ , do not give me that look, the girls have cleaned you up after enough fights for me to know this about you. The point is that if you choose to fight, no matter how justified, there are consequences for punching a brother, and that means we might not be able to protect you from those consequences.” 

Laf wouldn’t admit that they had fantasized about knocking the ever loving shit out of whoever had been hurting John, but they knew the rules and did not intend to break them. They assured Dr. Schuyler of this before standing and stretching. He apologized for not being more help to them, then looked at the time and shooed them out of his office. They both decided that their time would be better spent plotting back at the house and set off in that direction from main campus. 

\----------

Alex groaned at whatever force was shaking his bed and waking him from a perfectly good dream. Had he been John, he probably would have reached out and throttled the shaker, but since he was himself, he just chose to berate them with the nastiest words he could think of at such an early hour on a Saturday. He heard a chuckle that sounded faintly like the voice of his roommate and stopped mid-colorful adjective. “John, literally what the fuck. What the absolute fuckity fuck. You soggy bag of dicks: do you even know what time it is?” 

By now there was more than just John standing in the room. Alex could tell by the tinkering of more purely manly giggles coming from the general vicinity of where he threw a pillow. He heard James’ voice. “Your aim would improve greatly if you’d just open your eyes.”

Alex was still on the cusp of sleep so his mouth was moving without much consultation to his brain. “You are literally all worse than ten thousand grandfather clocks being shoved through a wood-chipper when it comes to noise this early in the morning, and I would like to file a formal complaint with the board of the ‘Leave-Me-The-Fuck-Alone’ committee for letting you heathenish buffoons this close to my bed.” 

There was another round of giggles before he heard a soft familiar voice chime in with the masculine giggles. “He sure is animated when he isn’t quite awake yet isn’t he?” 

Alex shot up in bed, eyes wide open. Sure enough, to his embarrassment, Eliza was standing in his doorway with his roommates holding out a cup of coffee for him. He got out of bed, ignoring the fact that he was only in boxers and a t-shirt, and took the cup from her hand, leaning into her and letting out a soft groan before speaking. “Eliza, my poor sweet one, I am so sorry that you had to see me like that. I’m not my best before…” he looked down at his watch and turned on his roommates, again seeming to forget that Eliza was still present, “ALRIGHT, someone needs to explain why I am awake at 5:30 AM on a Saturday before I inject numbing crème into all of your toothpaste and hidden lube.” 

Eliza doubled over laughing while all of his suitemates cringed. John looked affronted, “That is SO rude. We are just trying to be good pals. We have it on good authority that our first pledge test is gonna be at 7. So we figured that you and Thomas would appreciate the full hour and a half it normally takes for your asses to get anywhere.” Thomas looked offended that he had been lumped in with Alex, but because everyone in the room knew it was not a wrong time frame for either of them, they didn’t argue. 

“Herc told me you all somehow already knew about the test, so I thought you all might appreciate some coffee and donuts. Angelica was the house sweetheart the year before Martha, so I figured that she and I could come help you all study so they don’t have a reason to give you any grief.” Eliza finished her statement just as Angelica walked into the room with her own cup of coffee. Alex was proud that the boys even had that many cups really. After that passing thought, he turned back to Eliza with what was the beginnings of love in his eyes. 

“You truly are the best of women, Eliza,” he started but before he could wax poetic about her in any detailed fashion, his roommates and Angelica were all groaning and gagging and moving them as a hoard to the common area. 

There, Alex secured his favorite types of donuts and flopped down on one of the individual chairs. The others followed suit until they had used up every seat in the living room plus two of the kitchen chairs to comfortably house all 6 students. John cracked his knuckles and gave them all a mischievous look. “Alright, y’all, let’s get to work.” 

The next thirty minutes was like fraternity bootcamp. Alex was surprised at how far behind James and John he and Thomas were. Luckily, because of their competitive personalities and desire to not fail miserably in front of the girls, they caught on quickly. They still didn’t have the depth of knowledge by any means, but they had nailed the basics. Angelica led them through one more round of rapid fire questions before deeming them, “adequate for the first test.” 

Alex was actually very relieved that his roommates had gotten him up to practice. Now that he was awake, the only thing quelling his nerves was the thought that he had studied before this test and he wasn’t going into it blindsided. When they broke to get ready, he pulled John to the side. “Dude, how do you know this much stuff about the frat? We’ve only been members for like a week now.” 

John shuffled in place, looking as if a bee had flown into his throat and stung somewhere far down to make it impossible to swallow or speak. Finally, the response he settled on was, “Well, I guess that’s what happens when you are dating the one in charge of pledge activities.” He made it sound like a joke, but Alexander was good at picking up on lies, no matter how subtly hidden they are. 

Alex looked at John concerned. John huffed and cut him off as if reading his mind. “Yes, I know I am a terrible liar. Yes, I am fine. No, I don’t want to and cannot talk about what’s actually going on. As a reminder, you only have like 45 minutes to get ready to leave. Don’t worry, lover boy, I will keep Eliza entertained while you shower.” And with that he was walking into their room to change, leaving Alex standing alone and confused outside their bathroom doors. 

\---------- 

Laf looked at the lineup of boys they had signup to be partnered with the pledges this week. They had made an active effort (as in they definitely voluntold) to pair up all of the members of the Sons of Liberty with the pledges. They wanted to narrow in on who could possibly be the one hurting John and James, and they figured they had the best chance if they could just see them interacting in a group. There were eleven other brothers in the room as they each drew names for who they would be ‘mentoring’ for the next few days. While they hoped that their brothers would do something constructive with their time, they knew that the reality was most of them would use it as an opportunity to take advantage of their pledge. 

“Alright boys! Line-up! The drawing begins now!” Laf called out to the room, shuffling the names around in a hat. Once everyone had drawn, they did a rollcall to see who had whom. The only good part about doing that so early in the morning was that no one was awake enough to exude much energy other than Laf. They took note of who had ‘their’ boys. John had gone to George Frederick, Alex to Sam Seabury, James to Herc, and Thomas to Aaron Burr. Laf was sure that James and Thomas would be fine but was a little worried for the sake of John and Alex. Without voicing their concerns, they carried on with the preliminary meeting. “Remember boys, you get to ask one question and all of them ‘ave to answer it. I will note who gets questions right and who gets them wrong. If you ask an unacceptable question, I will blot it from the notes and you will not be notified. As this is the first one, please keep the ‘arder questions to a minimum. We will redraw names on Tuesday at the retreat. Are we ready?” Laf watched as each of them nodded in his direction in their own turns. Once each one had confirmed, Laf gave the go ahead, and each one of them called their pledge. 

Laf’s pledge, William Williams, picked up on the first ring. Laf gently explained to the very tired sounding pledge that he had 30 minutes to be up and at the house. Like most calls, the boy brightened at the mystery of being summoned, even if it was a super inconvenient time. After all, most people joining greek life come in with certain expectations, and being hazed is surprisingly high among them regardless of the negative stereotype surrounding the word. As Laf was hanging up, he received a text from John. 

**[From: Mon Petit Chasseur]** received at 6:31 AM: So who ever my person is hasn’t called yet. Do I just show up at my leisure? 

**[From: Mon Petit Chasseur]** received at 6:32 AM: Oh JK. G Frederick just texted instead. 

**[To: Mon Petit Chasseur]** sent at 6:33 AM: Are you doing anything after this? 

**[From: Mon Petit Chasseur]** received at 6:35 AM: That’s up to G. Freds I guess ha ha 

**[To: Mon Petit Chasseur]** sent at 6:37 AM: Oh that’s right I forgot you were a plebian. *winking face emoji* 

Herc approached Laf as the first of the pledges ran into the room, out of breath and still in his pajamas. Herc rolled his eyes at the poor kid. “He was aware that they had a full 30 minutes right? No need to show up in… is that My Little Pony print? Jesus,” he was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Laf pat his shoulder to show that they understood his pain. They knew how much bad fashion in general bothered Herc, but he had a special vendetta against printed pajama pants, and Laf could tell that it was taking a lot out of him to not go scold this particular pledge about his fashion choices. Laf decided a diversion was in order. “So, what are you thinking about ‘aving James do as ‘is pledge task for the next few days?” 

Herc looked at his friend thankfully, recognizing the chance to think about something else. “I think I’m just going to make him come to the hockey preliminary practices. They do some early scouting, he’s been really wishy washy about whether he’s gonna join, so I think coming by early conditioning is just what he needs. Then again, he’s been so exhausted I may have to reevaluate. Did you figure out anything about that? I know you’ve been looking into it since yesterday. I also noticed how all of the current Sons of Liberty are here.” 

Laf nodded along. They would eventually have to figure out a task for young William. Normally, they would just make him run in the mornings with them, but that had turned into time they spent running with John. It wasn’t like a ‘sacred’ thing, but Laf really liked to use that time to push John’s limits since they were still not having sex because of John constantly being marked up and his refusal to talk about it. The running was enough to knock the edge off at least. “laf realized that it was their turn to speak. “Oh, oui. You all were chosen on purpose. I’m observing ‘ow each person behaves and reacts to giving and receiving questions.” 

Herc was looking at something over Laf’s left shoulder. Before Laf could turn around, there were arms around their waist and a soft kiss to their shoulder. “Good morning, Régnant.” 

Laf turned around to embrace their boyfriend. He was still in that cute sleepy state that he was always in before their morning runs. He was practically trying to climb them like a tree to try and cuddle into their lap, making Laf and Herc giggle. “Not now, mon ange! You have pledge class stuff to do. Go find George Frederick.” 

John groaned but pulled away and left compliantly. When Alex ran in, wiping what looked like lipstick of his forehead, Laf did a headcount and saw that everyone was there with around 5 minutes to spare. “Alright everyone make two circles: pledges on the inside, actives on the outside. The sooner we start, the sooner we can leave.” 

\---------- 

It had just been a kiss on the cheek, but the high that Alex was on from Eliza’s display of affection was what got him through the hell that was pledge questioning. Alex had been paired with Sam Seabury, and Alex thought for the second time since waking up that if he had been John, he would be in a fight. Luckily, he didn’t get asked anything that they hadn’t gone over just that morning. John kept shooting Alex strangely sympathetic looks from next to him where he was standing in front of George Frederick. Alex could feel the tension in the room increase as John’s questions got harder and harder, but he answered them flawlessly. When George was done, even he looked impressed and a round of applause went up in the room. John sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. Their whole room did just fine, unlike quite a few of their pledge mates who struggled with basic questions. At the end, the whole room said the creed and their public motto, “Live free or die.” Laf reminded them all that they needed to meet with their pledge mentor and get their assignments to be done by Tuesday. On Tuesday, apparently the group would be shuffled again but for a full week. 

Alex was incredulous as he walked up to his group of friends after they had all spent about 30 minutes talking to their ‘mentors’. They were all talking about their assignments. Burr was making Thomas bring coffee and study with him for the next three nights. Thomas had found out that they had the same very specific coffee order so he seemed genuinely excited about his pairing. James was much the same, as he talked about getting ‘drug’ to hockey conditioning by Herc. Thomas looked a bit concerned, but James was being more affectionate with Thomas than he had all week so Alex didn’t open his mouth. John was pretty quiet with his assignment. He was looking at the floor and mumbling. Alex tipped his chin up to make him make eye contact and speak up. John ripped away from Alex, taking a step back. After a deep breath, John clarified both his assignment and his behavior. “Sorry, man. I’ve just had a lot of people touching me recently without my permission. George Frederick is making me take him to the bar and buy him a drink. Apparently his ex is going to be there, so I’m his fake new fling.” 

Alex breathed out pretty heavily, realizing how gross that sounded. He thought he was going to have the worst task. At least his was a challenge. “Dude, that is not cool of him at all. You could tell Laf. They would make him change it for sure.” 

John flinched a little before launching into what sounded like a pre-recorded speech about doing whatever it took to be the best brother he could be. “So I am going to tell Laf, because they need to know that I am not cheating on them, but I can’t ask for a new task.” He made weird eye contact with James, but before Alex could ask what the hell was going on, James was asking him what his activity was. Alex groaned. 

“God, Seabury is such a dick,” At this they exchanged _another_ weird look. Alex pressed into his explanation, “He said that he knew how much I loved challenges so he wanted to give me a fitting task. Get this: I have to somehow retrieve a pair of Martha’s underwear and present them to George **with no explanation as to how I got them** and I guess hope he doesn’t kick my ass. I’m flipping shit. Who assigns something like that? I thought a panty raid was only something you saw in low budget movies!” 

At first they all stood there staring at him. Alex was getting nervous when finally, Thomas broke the silence by laughing. The laughter carried around their group except to Alex who was sputtering. John, through wheezing breaths, tried to explain. “That is the most stereotypically ‘frat’ thing I have ever heard. And your face was just so…” He couldn’t even finish because he was laughing again. Honestly, the laughter was contagious. Before he knew it, Alex was also doubled over and just as red in the face as each of his friends. They had basically collapsed in a pile on the floor. 

John, from his place in the dogpile, drawled out, “So, I think the best way to do this would be for you to talk to Martha herself. She could probably come up with a way to do it that wouldn’t get you murdered by George.” 

Alex kicked himself for not thinking about going to actually talk to Martha. “I have no way to get a hold of her. Do I just go knock on her door? Like, ‘hello, could you spare a pair of your panties and help me give them to your boyfriend without him killing me.’” 

Alex’s vocalization made the laughter start up again. After a few more moments, John cleared his throat. “Well, I have to go talk to Laf anyway. They should have Martha’s number. If not, they are more comfortable in the sorority house than any of us so they would brobably be willing to help you come up with a better plan. Do we all want to go?” 

The group all nodded. No one had anything better to be doing, so they figured they might as well tackle the rest of the day as a team before they had to break for their different activities. 

\---------- 

“If we are going to keep congregating in my room, I will need some more seats, mon amis,” Laf chuckled when the rag tag roommates showed up at their door led by John. John kissed Laf chastely on the lips before walking in and sitting on the bed beside Herc. James and Thomas sat together on the floor, Alex took the desk chair, and Laf perched on their pillows at the head of their bed. “So, to what do I owe the ‘onor of having all of my favorite boys, besides little Burr, in my room?” 

Alex snorted. “Little Burr? He’s just as tall as you although admittedly not as muscular.” 

Laf gave him a confused look before shaking it off. “What? Oh. No, Burr is my little. Like I am ‘is fraternity big. It’s like a permanent mentor. You all will get one when you get to know us a little better. Size doesn’t really matter in that case.” 

Alex only hummed in acknowledgment. He had decided before joining that fraternities only made sense the longer you were in them and chalked big/little up to being one of those ideas. “Well, putting that very interesting topic on the backburner, we were actually here to talk about our pledge assignments.” 

Herc chuckled. “Yeah, I heard Seabury telling you yours, Alex. That’s quite the challenge. Laf, you’re not gonna like it.” 

Herc was right. Laf honestly hated both John and Alex’s assignments for different reasons. They couldn’t understand why John was going through with George Frederick’s ridiculous fake date, and if they didn’t come up with a good plan, Alex was going to have his ass discreetly handed to him by George Washington. 

John was looking at Laf pleadingly to not push the issue. So they didn’t. They had to trust that John knew what he was getting himself into. Besides, John trusted them unwaveringly and had said and demonstrated as much in the last two weeks. Which just left the issue of Alex. Laf had texted Martha, and she was at his door so fast that the message didn’t even say ‘read’ yet. Laf assumed that she had been in George’s room. “Is everything alright? I got the SOS!” She was concerned until she saw the large group of boys seated in Laf’s room. “Alright Laf, what’s going on? This looks like the start of a very bad porno.” 

Laf snorted, “ ‘onestly, I think I would rather be a part of a bad porno. Alex ‘as a problem. ‘e was given the task of stealing a pair of your underwear and presenting them to George without any explanation. We were ‘oping you could help us figure out a way to do that so that Alex can complete ‘is task without George, ‘ow you say, flipping his top?” 

Martha looked like she was about to implode. Laf was highly concerned that she might be angry at the thought until a giggle cracked her composure and she was openly laughing at the situation and especially at Alex. “Well, I am glad you came to me instead of trying to break into the sorority house. It’s impossible to sneak in: I would know, I’ve been on the end of many a stride of pride and had to deal with Angie’s judgy eyes from the lounge. You would have been laughed out of the house. As for Georgie, well, yeah if you showed up with a random pair of my underwear, you’d be in deep shit for sure. But I think I have a plan. Are you all doing anything tonight?” 

Herc shook his head. “No, mixers don’t start till later in the semester. Why?” 

“Let’s have a party. Alex, you’ll know when the plan takes effect.” 

\---------- 

Alex was astounded by the amount of men and women you could fit into one fraternity house when it was time to have a party. Martha had rallied her sisters and set a theme for the night: Luau. Alex wasn’t sure if there had been a mass emergency shopping trip or if the theme was common enough that everyone had just added floral shirts, leis, and grass skirts to their wardrobe, but by the time the sun went down, the boys had decorated the house, set up the bar, and passed around enough costumes that at least every other person fit the theme. 

John and George Frederick had left for the bar earlier than expected, leaving the rest of the group to deal with a sulking Laf who claimed that under no circumstance were they jealous. Alex didn’t argue for once in his life. Instead, he helped Laf find as many of whatever kind of drink they wanted until either ‘The Plan’ started or John got back. Martha was flitting around from group to group like a good hostess even though it wasn’t technically her house. George was nowhere to be seen, but there was some yelling from behind the bar that pointed towards being his location. Seabury was trying his luck with a group of girls in the corner and was failing spectacularly. Alex couldn’t help but laugh as he got more desperate to keep their attention. 

Eliza had rounds that night, so unfortunately she would be protecting her innocent dormers instead of partying. Alex was a little disappointed but in a contradicting manner glad that she wouldn’t be there to witness whatever debauchery Martha had planned. Laf was on drunken standby in case anything happened that they would have to intervene, but Alex was hoping that Martha’s plan wouldn’t end badly. 

There was a commotion from the corner of the room that broke into Alex’s thoughts of what could possibly go wrong in a plan he knew nothing about. Standing on a chair to see over the heads of others in the room, Alex saw James looking at the ground either in anger or shame and Thomas storming out of the room with tears in his eyes. After a beat of awkward silence in the crowd where the only sound was whatever ‘greatest hits’ song was playing in the background, people went back to whatever they were doing before the disturbance. Before Alex could convince Laf that they should go find James, he came over and found them. The poor man looked defeated. Laf embraced him. “Mon ami, what the literal fuck was that?” 

James shuffled from foot to foot. “Well, I think I will probably be sleeping here tonight. Thomas is not happy with me.” 

Alex scoffed and sarcastically remarked, “What? I thought lovers stormed away when they wanted you to take them to bed? I’m _so_ confused.” 

His sarcasm earned him a punch in the arm from Laf. “Don’t be a, what you call, a total raging dick, Alexander. James, what did you do to make Thomas cry like that?” 

“Um. Ok. Well, he is always very concerned about my health. Says I don’t take good enough care of myself. So he is worried about me going to conditioning with Herc because he knows I’m going to push myself too hard. He said that I already looked exhausted and that extra stress can cause asthma attacks to happen more readily. I only told him to relax and let me worry about myself. He said that he was tired of me pushing him further out of my life when he doesn’t know what he has done wrong. I only implied that being self-sufficient doesn’t mean I don’t want him in my life. He got more upset and brought up the fact that I don’t even carry my inhaler so how the hell did I think I could be self-sufficient. Then before I could say anything, he stormed out and yelled over his shoulder that if I didn’t want him to worry about me that I shouldn’t have made him fall in love with me. So, yeah. He’s pretty mad.” After so many words, James practically chugged the rest of his drink and half of another one. When it looked like he was done, Laf comfortingly patted him on the shoulder. 

“James, to me it sounds like ‘e is worried, not necessarily angry. Sometimes it is ‘ard to go from being intimately close to someone and then immediately locked away. John and I ‘ave only been together for two weeks, and I worry about ‘im constantly when y’all go do whatever you do and then come back a mess time after time. I know that you’re not going to tell us what you’re up to, but you ‘ave to at least recognize that it takes a toll on the people around you. To be fair to Thomas, literally what are you thinking going around without an inhaler? ‘e is absolutely right. You could die. Maybe you should go grovel, concede that you were wrong, and make nice.” Laf had the most soothing voice, even when the meaning behind their words were intended to be harsh. Alex only nodded along sagely, not having anything else to add. 

James was muttering about Thomas being scary when he was mad and the fact that he believed Laf but he would probably still sleep on the couch for a few days when Laf’s eyes lit up. John had stumbled into the party, looking like he was on a mission when his eyes met Laf’s and it became obvious to everyone in the room what his mission was. John launched himself into Laf’s arms and they were kissing raunchily before anyone could look away. All Alex heard from John’s lips was phrases along the lines of, “Never again,” and “Can we shower because I need like seven showers to wash away this night?” 

With the two lovers apparently headed towards the showers, James was the only one left standing with Alex to wait for ‘The Plan’ to take effect. James was the first one to spot George and Martha. Martha was on the dance floor grinding and making dirty gestures while George watched from his perch on the edge of the dancefloor. Occasionally, she would approach him and do something that Alex assumed was to tease him, then she would walk away and continue her dancing on the floor. Her short grass skirt and floral bra didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination, but one look at the couple could have told any observer that there was no room for a third that night. 

Seabury was sitting on the fringe of the crowd beside George as well, nursing a bruised ego and some type of longneck beer. He was trying to talk to George it looked like, but George was way too caught up in Martha to do much more than nod along. It wasn’t until Martha locked eyes with Alex and winked that he realized that ‘The Plan’ was in motion. Martha looked over her shoulder to George and mouthed something that Alex couldn’t see. Then, she was walking, no, stalking, towards him. Alex’s anxiety peaked, not knowing what was coming next. When she got to him, before he could babble out any of his insecurities or look to James for assistance, she put her hand in his, her fist closed around something. “Go tell George that I wanted you to give this to him. You’ll be safe. You fit the part perfectly: flustered and nervous as hell.” 

He didn’t even look at what was balled up in his fist. George’s eyes were locked on his, as well as Seabury’s, but each step closer felt like a black hole leading to certain death. When he finally stepped in front of George, he wasn’t sure he could even speak. He stuttered, “Uhm, Martha, uh, told me to hand this to you.” 

George’s eyes expressed what the rest of him didn’t. Confusion melted into lust as the black thong fell into his hand and he read the silver lettering on the front, ‘See You Tonight.’ With an awkward shimmy off of the barstool, George excused himself with what Alex would classify as a growl, “Well boys, it’s been real, but that’s my cue to go please my woman.” 

He was across the room and with Martha in his arms faster than Alex had ever seen anybody move. They were making out heavily as he carried her out of the room and up the stairs. Alex could only imagine what it would be like to see them at it since both were intense on their own. He imagined it would be like the formation of a hurricane. He was brought out of his thoughts by Seabury snapping in his face. “Listen, Alex, that was clever. But it unfortunately doesn’t count.” He was sneering at the confusion on his face. Alex hated feeling stupid, but because he was still in shock about how well executed that plan was, the only words that fell from his lips were, “Excuse me?” 

Seabury continued, “You’re excused, pledge. The deal was that you couldn’t tell anybody what you were doing and that you had to steal a pair of her underwear. So that little act was fun and all, but it doesn’t count.” 

Alex was floundering, sputtering, trying to form words that would tell Seabury just how much of a dick he was being when a voice of reason came from behind him. “Actually, you told Alex he had to acquire a pair and that he couldn’t tell George. Technically, he didn’t break any of your rules.” 

James, the saint, had taken Alex’s side when Alex couldn’t find the words to defend himself. Alex looked at him with awe. Alex hadn’t ever had someone in his corner before he had met his friends, and he had to say, it felt fucking awesome. When Seabury challenged James with his words, James shied back but his eyes didn’t lose their fire. “You would know about how much of a stickler for the rules I am, wouldn’t you, James?” 

Then, as the surprises for the night continued to mount, there was a deeper voice that caught the groups attention. “Well, it you’re a stickler for the rules, Sam, I must be like the general,” Herc was intimidating even in an unbuttoned floral blouse-like cover up and leis, “Now, I reckon you can leave Hammy here alone and call you task complete or I can go to Wash and tell him about your fun little prank. While I’m at it, I might as well tell your big. We know how much fun he has when you blatantly disregard the rules.” 

Seabury gave one last withering look to James before stomping away. Alex was giddy with the fact that his task was done, his friends were amazing and loyal, and he could finally go to bed. Before he walked away, he heard Herc talk to James, “So, heard you fucked up. My RA room has an extra bed. You can come crash for a night. Eliza is with Thomas in the RA office so you could probably sneak into your room to grab a bag.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments? Questions? A couple of suggestions? My tumblr username is smilingsarah10. 
> 
> I read and respond to every comment so hit me up here, too. Also: Shameless plug for some of my other works in progress, they are a good in my opinion. Thank you all for reading and following along. <3


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